Summer Crafts for Kids: Week 2 Gardening

Summer crafts for kids: Gardening Week

This year is my 4th year of having a summer veggie garden and I have started to get the kids involved. This is the first year I grew plants from seeds, which was fun but definitely a learning experience! Since the kids have started to get into it, I wanted to share some of the fun things we have done!

Grow lima beans from dried beans!

What you need:

Dried lima beans

Zip top bag

Paper Towels

How to:

Dampen 1 paper towel and fold it into quarters

Place a couple beans under one layer of paper towels.

Place the damp paper towel and beans into the zip-top bag

Place in a sunny window

Watch the roots grow!

You can also plant the beans after the roots have begun to grow. You can plant them in the ground or in a pot. Make sure they get plenty of sun and water. When you plant them, try and plant the roots in the ground leaving some of the bean exposed above the soil.

Create a homemade compost bin

What you need:

A 6 to 8 gallon plastic container

Drill

Top Soil

How to:

Drill 1 centimeter holes along 2 sides of the container at the top about 1-2 centimeters apart

Drill 3 centimeter holes on the bottom in each corner

Fill with 3-5 inches of top soil

It is really easy, and we just used the same drill bit, just made 3 holes next to each other on the bottom corners.

Once you have started adding compostable materials, you will want to turn the bin a couple of times once a week to keep the air flow. I have been using this bin for over a year and it has been extremely low maintenance and has been very successful, I just recently started over after I used all the compost to plant my veggie garden!

So now that you have a compost bin, what do you compost?

Fruit and vegetable scraps (make sure there isn’t butter on the veggies)

Egg Shells

Hair from your hair brush

Black and White Newspaper

Yard clippings (green or brown)

Coffee Grounds

Tea Bags

Breads and grains

Nutshells

Paper towels with food residue

Stale beans, flour or spices

Waste and bedding from animals that only eat plants

What to avoid:

Meat

Dairy

Pesticide treated lawn clippings

Poison ivy

Invasive weeds

Fats, grease and oil

Colored or glossy paper

Dog or cat waste

You want there to be heat coming from the bin, you also want to see bugs like earth worms that help in decomp!

Create an edible sensory garden

What you need:

Pots

Potting soil

Herbs: Rosemary, Mint, Basil, Parsley, Chives

Something to label the herbs: popsicle sticks, wine corks, etc

How to:

Fill a pot about half way with potting soil

Place the herb into the pot

Fill the remainder with potting soil (do not push down soil)

Water thoroughly

Add more soil if needed

Label the plants

The edible sensory garden is great for cooking as well as for decoration. The herbs all have unique leaves and scents. Water according to herb direction.

This one I found over at Frugal Fun for Boys. The directions are for one that is more ‘boy’ geared but it could easily be transformed into a fairy garden or anything your little one could come up with! Get the directions for an Imaginative Play Garden here.